1) No restrictions on the number of stanzas or the syllable count for each line;

2) For each stanza, the last word of the first line becomes the first word of line two,
the last word of line 2 becomes the first word of line 3,
and the last word of line 3 becomes the first word of line 4;

For this week’s Writing Prompt at Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie we were asked to “share a poem, drawing, story, photo, sculpture, etc that you’ve put your soul into creating. Something that touches on the deepest most vulnerable parts of yourself. Something raw and exposing. It need not be something new or something created specifically for this challenge. It might be your most accomplished piece of work or it might be a piece that you have never shared before. Maybe it makes no sense to anyone other than you or maybe it has gotten a lot of positive publicity. Maybe you sit down right now, in this moment and pour your guts out. Show us what you’re made of!“

I shared this poem back in April. I am posting it again for this prompt because it was written in a time of desperation. I was in the middle of one of my obsession episodes where everything was closing in. Everything seemed hopeless and nothing seemed real and I felt like I couldn’t go to anyone about it. Be careful with my soul…it’s fragile.

This is my first attempt at a Ya-Du, an ancient Burmese poetic form. I had never heard of it before until I was challenged over at mindlovemiserysmenagerie.

This was a real challenge for me. I had many failed tries but I think I finally accomplished it.

Here are the guidelines for a Ya-Du:

1. Lines 1, 2, 3, and 4 have four syllables;
2. Line 5 has 5, 7, 9, or 11 syllables;
3. Lines 4 and 5 have end rhyme;
4. Lines 1, 2, and 3 have climbing rhyme in syllables 4, 3, and 2;
5. Lines 3, 4, and 5 have climbing rhyme in syllables 4, 3, and 2;
6. There should be a reference to the seasons or nature.

Here is my poem (I color coded the rhyming scheme.)

The limit, sky
Dreams will fly, reach
Don’t cry, breach walls
And each day wake
With new ambition, your life’s at stake

After reading the rules again I realize that I messed up the rhyming scheme. Lines 3,4, and 5 are supposed to have climbing rhyme…not 2,3, and 4. Fail. Oh well. I will post this anyway because I worked so hard and I like this poem.